And He said to me, “Prophesy concerning these bones and tell them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD!
Parallel translations
- WEB Again he said to me, Prophesy over these bones, and tell them, you dry bones, hear Yahweh’s word.
- KJV Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.
- NKJV Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!
- NASB Again He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones and say to them, ‘You dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.’
- NLT Then he said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to these bones and say, ‘Dry bones, listen to the word of the Lord!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God commands Ezekiel to prophesy to the dry bones and call them to hear Yahweh's word. God's word is the means by which life will come.
Overview
The prophet is told to preach to lifeless bones, a striking picture of the power of God's word over death. What seems futile becomes the channel of God's life-giving power. So the preaching of the gospel, the word of Christ, raises those dead in sin.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- John 5:25Truly, truly, I tell you, the hour is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.
- John 5:28–29Do not be amazed at this, for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice
- Matt 21:21“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen.
- Ezek 36:1“And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say: O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD.
- Jer 22:29O land, land, land, hear the word of the LORD!
- Isa 26:19Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust! For your dew is like the dew of the morning, and the earth will bring forth her dead.
- Ezek 37:11Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Look, they are saying, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished; we are cut off.’
- John 2:5His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.”
- Num 20:8“Take the staff and assemble the congregation. You and your brother Aaron are to speak to the rock while they watch, and it will pour out its water. You will bring out water from the rock and provide drink for the congregation and their livestock.”
- 1 Kgs 13:2And he cried out against the altar by the word of the LORD, “O altar, O altar, this is what the LORD says: ‘A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David, and upon you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense upon you, and human bones will be burned upon you.’”
- Isa 42:18Listen, you deaf ones; look, you blind ones, that you may see!
- Ezek 37:15–16Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
- Mic 6:2Hear, O mountains, the LORD’s indictment, you enduring foundations of the earth. For the LORD has a case against His people, and He will argue it against Israel:
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The promise of one Shepherd-King David, a new heart and new Spirit, and the river of life flowing from the temple all stream toward Christ, the good Shepherd who gives the Spirit.
How Ezekiel 37:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.